Weekly Book Giveaway: Threshold, by Caitlin R. Kiernan
This week we're giving away Threshold, by Caitlin R. Kiernan. I haven't read it yet, but I have wasted far too much time puzzling over those... things on the heroine's arms. What are those? Gloves? Part of her shirt? The review will follow later this afternoon; hopefully the book includes a detailed explanation of the protagonist's wardrobe choices...
Clearly, horror is selling well on Lifetime.
I've never thought of Stephen King's work as being Lifetime material (except for maybe Dolores Claiborne), but The Hollywood Reporter informs me that the network is gearing up to adapt King's 2010 novella Big Driver (from the collection Full Dark, No Stars) into a made-for-TV movie. The story actually sounds totally Lifetime-friendly...
Trapped at the Altar, by Jane Feather
Before I begin, a word of warning: Jane Feather's Trapped at the Altar ends on such an inexplicably abrupt note that I found myself wondering if the e-reader advance copy I was sent was somehow missing several final chapters. But after poking around a bit online, I'm assuming my copy is fine—it seems that's just the way the story ends. However, if I find out later there's secretly another 100 pages out there, I promise to go back and update this with a more fair assessment...
Bad Luck Girl, by Sarah Zettel
I was thrilled to receive my review copy of Sarah Zettel's Bad Luck Girl, the final book in her American Fairy Trilogy. Zettel had already produced two exceptionally creative, intelligent installments for this series (Dust Girl and Golden Girl), so I was crossing my fingers for a truly spectacular finish...
Geek gear
Out of Print has introduced several new designs as part of their new Sci-Fi Collection, including The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Handmaid's Tale, Ender's Game, and Neil Gaiman's American Gods. Personally, I don't think that last one qualifies...
A CGI BFG
Roald Dahl's official website recently posted an announcement about the upcoming film adaptation of Dahl's 1982 novel The BFG. According to the site, the movie will be co-produced by DreamWorks and Disney, directed by Steven Spielberg, and released on July 1, 2016...
Veronica Mars: The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line, by Jennifer Graham and Rob Thomas
Veronica Mars: The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line is extremely satisfying... y'know, for fanfic. It's less successful as a freestanding mystery, but I suspect author Jennifer Graham (who “co-wrote” the novel with series creator Rob Thomas) was encouraged to walk a very fine line between creative storytelling and shameless fanservice...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Veronica Mars: The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line, by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham
This week we're giving away a copy of Veronica Mars: The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line, by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham. The book is the first installment in a series of mysteries inspired by the TV show, and while I suspect most hardcore Veronica Mars fans already own it, if you're A) broke, B) on the fence about reading a movie tie-in, or C) just looking for an entertaining, noir-lite beach read, today could be your lucky day...
Expect many new reprints
According to The New York Times, Circuit Judge Richard Posner, writing for a three-judge panel from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, has declared that most (but not all) of Arthur Conan Doyle's dozens of Sherlock Holmes stories are now part of the public domain...
The Lovely and the Lost, by Page Morgan
Page Morgan's The Lovely and the Lost is the second novel in her Dispossessed series. I found her first installment, The Beautiful and the Cursed, a little over-ambitious, but fans of Morgan's elaborate mythology and huge cast will be pleased to hear that her second book is just as jam-packed as the first...
Long overdue
Super pleased to hear this (even if I object to spelling "Yay!" as "Yea!", unless you're actually at a Ren Faire): Wordcandy favorite Lisa Kleypas has agreed to write a historical romance series, and then some contemporary novels, for Avon Books...
Darcy's Story, by Janet Aylmer
I am not picky about Jane Austen fanfic. Despite my frequent bookshelf purges, I have kept nearly a dozen Pride and Prejudice retellings, re-imaginings, and continuations of varying degrees of quality, so it's pretty telling that I will be sending my copy of Janet Aylmer's Darcy's Story off to its new home without a pang...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Darcy's Story, by Janet Aylmer
This week we're giving away yet another "Pride and Prejudice-from-Darcy's-perspective" book: Janet Aylmer's Darcy's Story. (Creative title!) The cover is pretty, but the novel's subtitle is "Pride and Prejudice, told from a whole new perspective", which is pretty ridiculous. I mean, are we ignoring...
Maybe satirical rhyming?
NPR has a great article up about the newly-announced Poet Laureate: Charles Wright, a retired professor at the University of Virginia. So far, his reaction has not given me much faith in his eloquence...
Wonder Woman at long last
Hollywood entertainment columnist Nikki Finke just launched her self-titled gossip site, and she kicked off with one hell of a scoop: a complete (alleged) list of Warner Bros/DC Comics' upcoming film projects. I have no idea if this information is accurate...
A tribute to Ramona (and her parents)
Stephanie Lucianovic wrote a really lovely essay for Avidly about the experience of reading Beverly Cleary's Ramona Quimby books as both a child and an adult. I haven't re-read these books as a grown-up (and even as a kid, I was more into Harriet the Spy and The Phantom Tollbooth), but...
The Stand: original flavor
Well, this should please Stephen King fans: according to the website BloodyDisgusting, the upcoming adaptation of King's The Stand will be R-rated and three hours long. That sounds like a lot to sit through
An ongoing mystery
The Atlantic recently posted an article about the long history of mostly-terrible Wizard of Oz movies, exploring why such rich source material has only resulted in one decent film...
We Are The Goldens, by Dana Reinhardt
Reading Dana Reinhardt's We Are The Goldens is an exercise in appreciating process rather than product. It's thoughtful and well-written, but if you're hoping for a tidy, satisfying conclusion you're doomed to disappointment...
Weekly Book Giveaway: We Are The Goldens, by Dana Reinhardt
The cover art makes it look a bit like an after-school special in book form, but I'm gonna give the story a shot anyway: this week we're giving away a copy of Dana Reinhardt's We Are the Goldens. Our review should be up soon(ish)...
Clash of the Titans
Anyone who follows book news has probably heard about the e-book pricing feud between Amazon and Hachette. I wouldn't blame you if you'd decided to skim the details (let's face it: "ongoing pricing debate" is not a phrase that catches the eye when the world is full of cat videos), but The Colbert Report helpfully invited Sherman Alexie...
Ah, Stockholm Syndrome...
According to Variety, Disney has hired Bill Condon (of Dreamgirls and both Twilight: Breaking Dawn films) to direct a live-action version of Beauty and the Beast. This seems like a verrrry bad idea...
Attempting to upgrade
NPR recently posted an article about the difficulty schools are having in finding textbooks that qualify as meeting the "Common Core State Standards"—the new educational benchmarks that 44 states and the District of Columbia have adopted...
Hexed, by Michelle Krys
The publisher's introduction for Michelle Krys's debut novel Hexed describes the story as “Bring it On meets The Craft”, and they're not lying: this book is uncannily like a late-90s teen movie—snarky, satisfying, and (it must be said) frequently totally ridiculous...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Hexed, by Michelle Krys
This week's Book Giveaway title is Michelle Krys's novel Hexed. The publisher describes it as "Bring it On meets The Craft", which (in my eyes, at least) answers the question of what age group YA fiction is actually written for, because those movies are fourteen and eighteen years old, respectively. Clearly "Young Adult" fiction is squarely aimed at 32-year-olds...
Lost opportunity
Novelist and playwright Niall Williams recently compiled a list of the top ten books "that manage to make heroes out of readers" for the Guardian. His famous-bookworm choices aren't terrible (Matilda, Jo March, the Very Hungry Caterpillar, etc.), but...
It appears to be working, too.
According to NPR, LeVar Burton, host of the beloved but defunct PBS show Reading Rainbow, is trying to crowdfund a web-based version of the series. The campaign is going swimmingly...
Lost: the family-friendly version
According to THR, Sony has bought a pitch for a "family adventure project" called Stranded, to star The King of Queens actor Kevin James. The project is apparently loosely based on Johann David Wyss's 1812 adventure classic The Swiss Family Robinson...
Sea of Shadows, by Kelley Armstrong
According to the author's note at the end of her new book Sea of Shadows, Kelley Armstrong has always wanted to write a full-blown epic fantasy, complete with “swords, sorcery, and the ravenous undead.” I'm a big fan of epic fantasy, zombie stories, and Armstrong's writing, so I figured the resulting novel would be a surefire win...